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THe Dragon is the greatest of all Serpents, and hath sharpe teeth set like a saw-fashi∣on, he hath greater strength in his taile then in his teeth, and hath not so much poison as o∣ther Serpents have, if he win∣deth
his tayle about any he slay∣eth him, and the Elephant with all the bignesse of his body is not safe from him, for the Dra∣gon lurking about common paths where the Elephants use to go, doth winde and knot his taile a∣bout the Elephants legs, and kil∣leth him by suffocating. Hee is bred in India and Ethiopia. Pli∣ny saith, in Ethiope there be Dra∣gons of 20 foot in length, they are wont 14 or 15 together with their heads erected, to flye over the Sea, and great waters, for some better foode: the Dra∣gons poyson is onely in his tongue and gall. Wherefore the Ethiopes cut away the tongue and eate the flesh. Pliny saith, that through the strength of poyson his tongue is alwaies lift up, and sometimes through the heate of poison he inflameth the
ayre, so that hee seemeth to breath fire out of his mouth, and sometimes when he hisseth with his contagious blast, he infecteth the ayre, so that the Pestilence commeth thereof many times. He is sometimes in the waters, and lyeth often in his Den, hee sleepeth seldome, but watcheth almost continually; hee devou∣reth beasts and Fowles, his eye∣sight is very sharp, so that in the Mountaines hee seeth his prey a far off oftentimes.
Betwixt the Elephants and the Dragons there is continuall war, for the Dragon claspeth about the Elephant with her taile, and the Elephant ouerthroweth the Dragon with her feet and snowt, the Dragon with the folding of her tayle, twisteth her selfe a∣bout the Elephants legs, and so maketh him to fall.
The Elephant seeing a Dragon under a tree, goeth about to break the tree to give the Dra∣gon a blow, the Dragon leapeth upon the Elephant, and desirous to bite between the nostrils and to make him blinde, sometimes the Dragon getteth behind him, biting and sucking his blood with the los••e of which blood, the Elephan•• ••eing weakned, af∣ter long 〈…〉〈…〉 falleth upon the Dragon, and so dying slaieth 〈◊〉〈◊〉 owne murderer the Dragon 〈◊〉〈◊〉 very desirous of the Elephants blood, for the coldnesse of it, wherewith she desireth to bee cooled. And many other strange Serpents are in India as Scorpi∣ons with wings, and such like, of whose natures I omit to write, because their formes be not knowne unto us.